


The Tanuki and the Fox

by MysticDeadman



Series: Learning to Fight [2]
Category: Fantasy Strike, Street Fighter
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Martial Arts, Ninja, Teamwork, working together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 19:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20494157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticDeadman/pseuds/MysticDeadman
Summary: Two clans. Two Ninja. One mission. What could possibly go wrong? Besides everything, that is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Fantasy Strike is a fighting game developed by David Sirlin and Sirlin Games. After several years of development, it finally saw a full release last month on PC and consoles and supports cross-platform play. It's a "simplified" fighting game that draws heavy inspiration from the Street Fighter franchise, which makes sense because Sirlin was the lead designer for SSFII Turbo HD Remix.
> 
> It's as "pick-up-and-play" as a fighting game could possibly be, and it's amazingly fun. I highly recommend picking up the game and having yourselves a blast.

“Wait, what?”

Ibuki sat in the middle of a wide open room in the Temple of the Grandmaster of the Glade of Ninja, her legs tucked under her. She hated this part of her mission briefings. She’d always get called in for something. Usually, it was to check in on her life outside the Glade. Despite the Grandmaster’s apprehension when it came to letting Ibuki have aspects of her life outside the clan, she also served as a source of outside information when needed. Other times, she’d be ordered to carry out a mission of some sort. In those cases, it was usually to either dig up some dirt on a potential future target, or maybe help plan some infiltration or ex-filtration routes for teams that were getting ready to carry out some dirty work.

And then there were times like this one, where she felt like they called her in just to torture her. Times where the Grandmaster and his staff felt like making her sit in an uncomfortable-as-hell position and see how long it took her to break. At one point, she’d even wondered if they took bets on how long they could make her hate everything before somebody decided to put her out of her misery.

If she was old enough, she’d find out whether that was happening and, if it was, she’d get some money out of it. New phones weren’t going to buy themselves.

This time, though, it wasn’t long before Master Sanjou, the man who’d been her teacher in ninjitsu since childhood, and Grandmaster Enjou entered the room. Ibuki hardly had time to squirm before her superiors made their entrances. The two took their positions in the candlelit room, Grandmaster Enjou sat on an elevated cushion with only his lower body visible to anyone in the room. Master Sanjou sat a couple of feet in front of him, letting himself be fully visible.

It was all Ibuki could do to not call the whole situation out as a corny anime setup.

Sanjou sighed, readjusting his glasses. Ibuki hated the fact that he wore them when contact lenses were a thing. He clearly practiced figuring out how to position himself in a room so that, no matter where he sat, he could manipulate the lights so that they reflected off his glasses and hid his eyes.

Not that she needed to see them now. She could tell he was annoyed by her question.

“Do I really need to explain the situation again, Ibuki?”

Ibuki squirmed again. “Uh, yes?”

Sanjou took a second.

“You have been selected among the _Genin_ in the village to participate in this task. Your assignment is to cooperate in a joint operation with the newly established Fox’s Den in order to foster a relationship between our two clans. By succeeding in this mission, we can recruit a new ally and allow the Fox’s Den to create a reputation for themselves. This is a mutually beneficial assignment that we believe you are capable of accomplishing.”

Ibuki scratched at her chin in confusion. “Okay, that much I get, but why  _me_ ?”

“Because,” Grandmaster Enjou answered from his seat hidden in the room’s shadows, “This is being done as a personal favor between the Grandmaster of the Fox’s Den, Jade Fox, and myself.”

“You know their Grandmaster?”

“I do,” Enjou shifted slightly, making Ibuki wonder if he was uncomfortable too, “Jade Fox and I were both raised in this village. We learned the ways of ninjitsu together. When we came of age and gained the rank of Jonin, we were given a choice. We could remain in the village and continue to work for the Glade, or we could strike out on our own and live a life in the world around us. It should be obvious which path Jade Fox and I chose.”

“Okay, I can see that,” Ibuki said, cringing slightly. She could feel one of her legs going numb under her. “But why would she leave the Glade and start her own clan? Why not just, I dunno, build a team in the Glade?”

Grandmaster Enjou chuckled at the question. “Jade Fox was an exceptional athlete. Her skill as a ninja was among the top of our class in the physical aspects, but she often butted heads with her superiors when it came to the moral side of things. She often argued against getting involved in battles or assassinations in a world that was clearly moving away from such activities. Our elders at the time disagreed, positing that losing sight of traditional ways would mean the end of the Glade of Ninjas. She argued that keeping some tradition while adjusting to the evolving world around us would allow us to grow without growing stagnant. Mostly, she hated the formalities behind many of our ways.

“Most likely, not unlike the way you must think about the way we conduct these mission briefings.”

Ibuki giggled at that. While Sanjou was a stickler for the rules and didn’t  have  any sense of humor that they young ninja could see, Enjou seemed like he was a little more laid back.

“Okay, but that still doesn’t answer my question. Why _me_? Why not another Genin?”

_Why not someone else so I don’t have to?_

“Because,” Sanjou answered, folding his arms across his chest, “The Fox’s Den will be sending someone similar to you in age on this mission, and we feel that, considering they way we’ve heard they handle things in the Fox’s Den, you might be the one who can connect with their representative.”

“Wait, my age? Another teenager?”

Sanjou nodded. “Yes, another teenager. We have discussed the matter with Grandmaster Fox, and we feel tha t the two of you would be best suited for the mission in question.”

The Grandmaster raised a hand,  an unseen signal by Sanjou to stand up and approach Ibuki. He held out a scroll to the young ninja, who took it from him and unfurled it.

“These are your orders, Ibuki,” Grandmaster Enjou said, “you are to meet with the Fox’s Den representative in the city. Once you two have met, Jade Fox herself will brief you on the finer details of your task. Do you have any questions?”

Ibuki read over the scroll. It more or less said as much as Enjou had, but with a few extra bits of information. She mulled over it for a few seconds before replying.

“Can I pass on this one? If we’re going by tradition, I _do_ get one free pass a year to skip a mission, and I haven’t used mine yet?”

The Grandmaster chuckled a bit.

“Sadly, no. If it were any other mission, I would have no issue with you turning down this mission. However, as this _is _a chance to forge a new connection between clans, I’m afraid I’m going to have to deny your request.

“And besides, aren’t you always going on about how we need to break from tradition every once in a while?”

For all the  praise she heaped on Grandmaster Enjou because of how surprisingly relatable he could be, she hated how relatable he could be.

“Okay, fine. So, what’s the Fox’s Den like, then? Might help me get along with the contact if I know something about them.”

Enjou shifted in his seat. “Well, for starters...”


	2. Chapter 2

Somewhere, deep in the mountains, secret ninja academies train our future protectors. Men and women undergo intense training, dedicating their lives to guarding ours from the shadows. They are the silent protectors. The hidden guardians.

Not all such academies, however, are hidden away from the eyes of the world. Sometimes, they can be found in an every day location. Sometimes in large gyms that offer widespread membership discounts to bring in new clientele.

Other times, the schools could be found on the third floor of a business building, struggling to pay their rent. The Fox Dojo, a martial arts school tailored for women, was one such school.

The building itself was small, tightly situated between two other office buildings on either side. The Dojo itself sat on the third floor, it’s master managing to negotiate a deal to rent out the 2nd and 3rd floors. This way, she could avoid any noise complaints from the “financial” office on the ground floor.

Most of her girls had little-to-no martial arts experience, so it wouldn’t do her any good to antagonize a Yakuza clan before they were ready. That was her goal: when they were, they’d empty out the first floor. Until then...

Said owner entered her Dojo, phone pressed tightly to her ear. The sounds of the young women diligently training filled the room, to the owner’s slight frustration. She’d been so absorbed in her phone call that she forgot she had a class running.

“Hold on,” she said, quickly kicking off her shoes and crossing the open training floor toward her office. Once there, she shut the door, letting the room’s soundproofing do its work. “Okay, what were you saying?”

“_I was saying,” _the man on the other end of the line answered,”_that you need to get your financial situation figured out, and fast.”_

“I understand that, but you have to understand that we’re just now getting our feet under us. I just signed some students for paid memberships. I’m just waiting for a couple of checks to clear before I can start paying.”

“_Kurokawa-san, I get what you’re telling me, but right now I can’t afford to wait. You’re already three months behind on your rent, and remember that you’re paying on two-thirds of that building. I can give until the end of the week, but if you haven’t made even a single payment by then, then I’m going to have to throw you out.”_

The man didn’t wait for Kurokawa to answer, hanging up as soon as he’d finished his sentence.

“Right, thanks.” She said, tossing the phone onto her desk. She sat for a few moments, letting the man’s words sink in. She took a deep breath, running a hand through her long, silver hair in frustration. A growl came out of her throat. She only had herself to blame. She was too eager. Too ready to jump at the chance to get her Dojo going that she hadn’t thought her deal through and didn’t consider the budgetary strain she’d put herself under.

She also hadn’t considered the fact that, while there was still a widespread interest in martial arts across the country, ninjitsu wasn’t entirely popular. She liked to blame the last couple of World Warrior tournaments. Maybe if a ninja or two would enter the damn things, then people would gain more interest than none at all. Then she’d be able to recruit more students.

As it stood, though, she could only attract the interest of a few girls in the area. Yakuza clans had a firm grip of the area where she started her Dojo, so it wasn’t too hard to convince a few girls that she could teach them how to protect themselves.

Jade Fox, doing business as “Hisako Kurokawa,” sighed one more time before standing up and grabbing her phone.

“Not going to get anywhere feeling sorry for myself in here,” she said. She left her office, the sounds of of the Dojo once again filling her ears. She walked through the training floor, observing everything around her.

So far, her roster was twelve strong. Not quite large enough to generate a sustainable income, but enough that she could evenly space out everyone’s training. Four of the girls practiced their forms on one side of the room, while another four were paired off, sparring with one another. The last two were in a corner, practicing with an assortment of practice weapons on training dummies.

Jade Fox smiled to herself. Seeing her girls in training gave her a brief moment to forget about her money troubles. Then her phone buzzed, and she came back to earth. She looked at it, thinking a creditor, or even her landlord, was calling her.

It was just a reminder. It was time to get things started.

She turned the alarm off and brought her finger and a thumb to her lips. She’d been training these girls for a couple of months now, so she’d learned a few tricks to get their attentions. A loud whistle broke through the noise, stopping everyone in their tracks.

Except for one poor girl, who was in the middle of a jumping kick. She crashed heavily to the ground, and her sparring partner quickly moved to help her up. The class gathered around their master, curiosity buzzing between them.

Jade Fox brought her phone back up, swiping through to find the app she’d need shortly.

“Okay, ladies,” she said, “I have an important announcement for all of you.”

She looked up and immediately gawked at the sight before her. Before she found the app in question, the girls all seemed to be interested in what she was about to say. Then she looked up, only to find every single back in the room turned to her.

“Oh, here we go again,” one girl said.

Another answered the first. “Time for another membership fee hike.”

“My parents aren’t happy with me giving up half my allowance for this place already,” a third spoke up, “if I have to pay any more, I’m gonna have to quit.”

“No, no, wait,” Jade Fox said, waving her hands in desperation, “it’s not like that this time, I promise.”

“Look,” another said, “I like being here. Learning how to fight is kinda cool and all, but you’re spending less and less time actually teaching us anything and more worrying about what’s in your bank account.”

Jade Fox sighed.

“You’re right, I haven’t paid much attention to you girls lately, and I’m sorry about that. I’m your sensei, and I should be helping you all grow as fighters. Like you said, though, I’ve been trying to get my finances in order.”

“So you _are _raising our fees?” The first girl to speak asked. The group as a whole turned their heads, eager for her answer.

“No, I’m not. In fact, I have a bit of a plan, and for that, I need a volunteer.”

To her surprise, none of the girls raised their hands. They did start turning around to face her, so that was a start.

“What kind of plan?” Another asked.

“It’s like this,” Jade Fox said, “I managed to work out a relationship with another Dojo. They’re willing to help us with our growth, but we need to do a little work with them first.”

“What kind of job?”

Jade Fox let out a small, nervous laugh. “Well, I can’t go into details just yet. They haven’t given them to me, so I can’t exactly give them to you. They’ve told me that what they’re asking for isn’t anything dangerous, but it’s one that going to take a little bit of doing. So, any takers?”

The girls looked between one another, trading unsure looks with one another. None of them seemed to want to volunteer for the task. At least, not until one raised her hand.

“I’ll do it,” she said. The other girls in the room gave the volunteer odd looks, wondering why she’d offer to do a job when not even the person offering it knew what the job was.

Jade Fox smiled, though. She recognized the one person who had chosen to offer her services.

“Setsuki,” she said, “I knew I could count on you for this.”

“Uh,” the girl answered, running a hand through her _very_ multicolored, _very_ dyed hair, “really?”

“Well, no,” Jade Fox said, causing everyone in the room to groan in disbelief, “but hey, take what you can get.”

Setsuki scoffed, dropping her hand in an instant.

“Fine, I see how it is.”

Fox laughed again.

“I’m only kidding. Here, come with me to the office. The rest of you can get back to practice.”

With that, the two made their way to the back office while everyone else returned to their training. Jade Fox watched as Setsuki entered the room, then checked to make sure the other girls were too busy with their training to eavesdrop. Once she was satisfied, she followed her young student and locked the door behind her.

“Okay, so what’s up?” Setsuki asked, raising an eyebrow at her Sensei’s act.

Jade Fox took a deep breath. This was a little earlier than she had planned for, but there was no helping things. Sanjou said he had someone ready to go, so she needed to fill her student in as soon as possible. She circled behind her desk, taking a seat while Setsuki kept an eye on her.

“Setsuki, I have to be honest with you.”

The teen placed her hands on her hips.

“Honest about what?”

Another deep breath. “About what it is I’m doing here.”

“I thought you were training a team of ninjas to do things in the city.” This time, Jade Fox raised her own eyebrow. Setsuki simply shook her head, a sly grin on her face. “You’re not exactly hiding that from any of us. Doesn’t take very long to see what it is we’re learning. Or maybe you forgot about this handy little invention we use? Call it the, ‘internet’?”

“Right,” Jade Fox answered, “forgot you kids have a hard time unplugging yourselves. Welp, that makes things easier.”  
  
Jade Fox sat up straight, any emotion she’d been showing her student quickly fading into a serious expression.

“My name isn’t Hisako Kurokawa as I’d led you and the other girls to believe.”

Setsuki had to stop herself from raising her other eyebrow. She didn’t want to look shocked at her Sensei. She wanted to keep her ‘I’m not going to believe a word you say until you start making sense’ expression.

“My name is Jade Fox, and I have some explaining to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like what you’ve seen and want to keep up with the Internet’s Eternal Phenomenon, then be sure to follow me on social media! I’m on Twitter (@MysticDeadman), Instagram (@mystic_deadman), DeviantArt (MysticDeadman), Fanfiction (Mystic Deadman) and YouTube (Mystic Deadman)!
> 
> I also stream! My stream schedule is on my Twitter, and my channel can be found at twitch.tv/mysticdeadman

**Author's Note:**

> If you like what you’ve seen and want to keep up with the Internet’s Eternal Phenomenon, then be sure to follow me on social media! I’m on Twitter (@MysticDeadman), Instagram (@mystic_deadman), DeviantArt (MysticDeadman), Fanfiction (Mystic Deadman) and YouTube (Mystic Deadman)!
> 
> I also stream! My stream schedule is on my Twitter, and my channel can be found at twitch.tv/mysticdeadman


End file.
